Blank Plexi Cover for Qanba Obsidian Stickless

To access the internal wiring, use a Phillips head-screwdriver to unscrew 6 screws on the bottom panel.  The sixth screw is hidden behind a white warranty tamper sticker, located in the top middle area of the bottom panel. Upon removing the bottom panel, please note the long cable that leads to the headphone jack.  Now, remove each of the quick disconnects using a needle nose plier and pinching the tiny tabs in each QCD, then pull up. Note the wire color arrangement - you will need to refer to this arrangement after the Stickless plate and your replacement 24mm buttons are installed. 

Next, disconnect the 5-pin harness attached to the joystick lever; you will use this later. Proceed to remove the joystick lever by first removing the balltop. You can do this by wedging a flathead screwdriver into the bottom of the joystick shaft, then turning the balltop clockwise. Finally, unscrew the four screws from the lever mounting plate.

With the firmware update completed, we now move to installing new artwork and plexi.  

1. First, install the artwork onto the panel
2. Next, attach the plexi using either screws recovered when removing the original plexi, or the replacement screws you purchased separately.

 Now, we will attach the directional buttons and action buttons.

1. The directional buttons are connected to the 5-Pin to All-Button Conversion Harness. The male end of the 5-pin harness attaches to the 5-pin female harness that is connected to the Qanba Obsidian's PCB board. Follow the visual guide to match the directional inputs to wire color.
2. If you plan to use snapbuttons, their orientation must conform to the tabbed openings on the metal panel's button holes.  This is due to how Qanba manages button installs, opting instead to attach the button to the plexi rather than the metal panel. If you have artwork under the button cap, you will need to rotate the artwork to match the orientation of the button as it is installed. 
3. The action buttons (punch, kick) are now 24mm instead of 30mm.  You will connect the wiring to each button based on the color guide shown in earlier steps.

With the direction and action buttons installed, it's time to test your inputs.  The application used here is gamepadtester.net, a free online application that can confirm directions as input by the fightstick to your computer, and by definition, to your console.  Be sure to first change your Obsidian platform switch to "PC" before plugging into your computer and performing the test.

It's worthwhile to test the inputs now. At the very least it will confirm that you wired the buttons correctly to the 5-pin harness. Remember that the first 24mm directional button is LEFT, the second 24mm is DOWN, the third 24mm is RIGHT, and the fourth is UP.

Before proceeding to the next steps (firmware install), see if your Obsidian model may already have CPT compliant cleaning in its hardware. The firmware was introduced on April 27. 2023. If you purchased the Obsidian or Pearl past this date, the newer firmware may already be installed.

When performing the inputs with the newer firmware, pressing the left and right input simultaneously should show no activity on the gamepad screen.  The same should apply when pressing the up and down buttons at the same time. This lack of activity will represent "neutral", meaning that the hardware already has the newer firmware.  If you instead see both directions light up on the gamepad tester application, proceed to the next steps.

The following instruction assumes you will use the CPT certified SOCD cleaner that is enabled via firmware upgrade.

1. You will first download the firmware file obsidian-stickless-cpt-firmware_v124.zip.
2. Next, unzip and run the "Qanba Obsidian Arcade Joystick Update V1.24 20230425.exe" program. If there is a security software prompt that states running the program poses a safety risk, please choose to ignore it or add the exe file to as an exception to your virus security app
3. Now, with the app open, you will see a screen similar to the above image.  It will display the firmware upgrade version under "File Information" 

1. To connect your Obsidian to the firmware upgrade app, press and hold the [PS] button on the joystick while plugging the USB data cable into the computer. After the connection is successful, [Qanba Obsidian Arcade Joystick] will be displayed on the interface.
2. Press the "Update" button

These final steps are important

1. After pressing the "Update" button, wait for the update progress bar to finish running. Do NOT interrupt the process by removing the USB cable, or powering off your computer. 
2. Once the update is complete, a window will pop up, indicating that both the update is successful and the verification is completed.
3. Click [OK] (appears in Chinese) to complete the update.

With your buttons, artwork and wiring installed, it's time to test the inputs again. As a reminder, when performing the inputs with the newer firmware, pressing the left and right input simultaneously should show no activity on the gamepad screen.  The same should apply when pressing the up and down buttons at the same time. This lack of activity will represent "neutral"

If you're able to confirm correct direction and neutral inputs via app, you're ready to go. Congratulations!